Man admits making false bomb claim on flight to Aruba

A MAN HAS pleaded guilty to causing a mid-air bomb scare on board a transatlantic jet last January.

At Ennis Circuit Court yesterday, Jorge Flores (44), a Dutch national, pleaded guilty to making a false alarm by stating that he had a bomb on board the Aruba-bound Boeing 767 flight with 231 passengers on board from Amsterdam on January 13th.

The bomb scare prompted the captain of the aircraft operated by Dutch firm Arkefly to divert to make an emergency landing at Shannon airport.

Flores was travelling by himself to the Caribbean island of Aruba off the coast of Venezuela. The bomb scare sparked a major security alert at Shannon airport. Flores has been in custody in Limerick prison since January 13th.

A Garda search of the flight found no device on board and the holidaymakers continued their journey to Aruba after Arkefly flew in a replacement aircraft.

In court yesterday, Flores told Judge Donagh McDonagh that he wanted to apologise. As the charge was read out, Flores began to cry and continued to do so during the hearing.

Elaine Houlihan, defending, said that “at the very minimum, Mr Flores has anxiety issues with flying” and she sought time to obtain his medical records.

Ms Houlihan said the defence has been making efforts to secure the medical records since January and that they were initially given the wrong address of his GP.

Inquiries had also been made to secure Flores’s medical records in the Netherlands and a translator would be needed.

She added that the defence would also be seeking a behavioural report on Flores from the governor of Limerick prison. She said he also suffered from claustrophobia.

Stephen Coughlan, prosecuting, said that gardaí would require the captain of the aircraft to be present at the sentencing hearing.

“Why do you require the captain when there is a plea of guilty?” Judge McDonagh asked. Mr Coughlan said that the charter company was disposed to having the captain appear.

Judge McDonagh said: “It doesn’t have to be the captain. The chief hostess would be in a far better position to give evidence.”

He added that the skipper of an aircraft was the easiest person to get to appear at the sentencing hearing.

“It is a good time to visit west Clare,” he remarked.

Judge McDonagh remanded Flores in custody to reappear before Ennis Circuit Court for sentencing on April 22nd.